He's still working on that while mixing new equipment with his old swing. McIlroy showed signs of his past Saturday; he's just four shots out of the lead of the Valero Texas Open, after all. But there were times when he also hinted he might play between the cabins at Augusta National again, and his approach on No. 17 said as much.

Then, McIlroy chunked the chip as if the wisdom teeth were flaring up once more, and that's why this week in Augusta, Ga., will be fascinating.

Tiger has worked to get closer to McIlroy — and he still has no idea what will happen next.

Tiger and McIlroy have become buddies with social lives requiring a mirror. Both the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world date women who star in other sports.

But this goes deeper. Both were toddler sensations. Both shot a 65 at age 21 at Augusta. And when McIlroy treated the U.S. Open in 2011 as Tiger once did, Johnny Miller said what many were thinking then.

Nike noticed. The company signed McIlroy in January, and the Masters will be a marketing moment. Nike has wardrobes laid out for Tiger and McIlroy for each day next week to best advertise.

Tiger noticed, too. And given his steely, competitive nature, this cynical question emerged: Did Tiger befriend McIlroy because he likes him as everyone seemingly does? Or because Tiger was looking for an edge?

Tiger's tweet to McIlroy last week about his finger/posterior follows the M.J. tone. And the way McIlroy has talked about Tiger recently suggests reverence in return.

“He might be the best athlete ever, in terms of his ability to grind it out,” McIlroy told reporters. “I could have a bit more of that, if I'm honest.”

Those who are around the two would prefer Tiger be more like McIlroy. San Antonio knows firsthand.

McIlroy is drawing the largest Texas Open gallery since Tiger played here in 1996. Tiger hadn't won a PGA Tour event then, much less a major, yet he already kept his public at a distance.

Tiger had a Beatles maneuver. In one door, out another — to a waiting car. His caddie then, Fluff Cowan, signed more autographs.

McIlroy, instead, signed a long line of autographs Saturday as he walked. He worked a black Sharpie so furiously, he needed a Sta-Sof golf glove to absorb the sweat.

This is the unaffected charm that has the crowd on his side. McIlroy's nature is as sweet as his swing, a reason most were ready to forgive him after he walked off the Honda Classic with his wisdom-tooth excuse.

Add some candid opinions, and McIlroy is Barkley, albeit with an Irish lilt. He's comfortable making fun of his peers (he was among those who posed “Dufnering”). And Friday, he made fun of himself with a tweet:

“Just locked myself out of my hotel room with no socks or shoes on ... Got a few funny looks walking thru the lobby to get a new key!!”

Still, there are no signs that McIlroy is naïve or easily intimidated. He wasn't in 2011, for example, when he wrote a bylined piece in Sports Illustrated.

“I'm not sure we are going to see (Tiger) dominate again the way he did,” he said. “He's playing like an ordinary golfer.”

McIlroy would stutter that year in the final round of the Masters, only to lap the field at the U.S. Open two months later. That tells both of McIlroy's gifts and his ability to forget and move on.

He's a force of nature, able to hit farther and higher, but the brilliance comes in bursts. It might happen Sunday or next week, and no one is sure when or why.